Lengthwise pleating



March 26, 1957 a. H. CADY LENGTHWISE PLEATING Filed Sept. 22. 1954 awe/M01) [may ff fad United States Patent LENGTHWISE PLEATING George H. Cady, Providence, R. L, assignor to United Merchants and Manufacturers, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Original application April 26, 1954, Serial No. 425,556. Divided and this application September 22, 1954, Serial No. 457,767

6 Claims. (Cl. 223-34) This invention relates to the formation of folds or pleats in a web-like material as, for example, in a continuous length of woven or knitted cloth or the like, or other continuous plane surface material such as plastic webs or unsupported and supported films, adapted to be creased or folded and subsequently set in the creased or folded position or formation.

More particularly, the present invention contemplates the production of a multiplicity of folds or pleats, for exampleknife pleats, or pleats of other types of formation in a web, for example, cloth piece goods of indefinite or continuous length with provision for a pleat forming device adapted to lay in, or at least initially manipulate the cloth into a series of regularly repeated pleat formations; the pleats, folds, creases or other deformations of the fabric being laid in longitudinally, i. e., lengthwise of the material being pleated, or otherwise worked, so that the pleats or other formations fashioned by the pleat forming device are laid in in parallel alignment with the longitudinal direction or dimension of the cloth or other web-like substantially plane surface material.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide means for laying in pleats lengthwise permanently on cloth piece goods of different kinds, for example, natural fiber materials such as cotton, linen, silk, wool, and also man-made and synthetic materials such as rayon, acetate, nylon, and other plastic materials made up in continuous length form and comprising fibers made up into yarns with the yarns being woven, knitted, or otherwise fabricated into cloth or other web material. The invention also contemplates the working of substantially plane surface web-like materials such as unsupported or supported films into permanent pleatings or folds, or foldlike formations.

One of the principal advantages of the present invention is believed to be the fact that it provides means for forming pleats running lengthwise of the fabric across its entire width on a continuous and uninterrupted basis. In this regard, it is proper to observe that heretofore it has been relatively common in the industry to process cloth in the piece for pleating by laying in the folds transversely, or at right angles to the direction of the length of the cloth, and a considerable number of pleating devices and transverse cloth pleating machines have been devised and put into use to produce these lateral type cloth pleats. An example is the patent to Pervilhac entitled Plaiting-Machine, U. S. No. 604,839. A more recent example is the patent to Agee, U. S. No. 2,632,495, which discloses a roller assembly for transverse pleating wherein the speed of the several rollers is non-uniform so as to cause fabric slippage, thereby fabricating the pleats therein.

Another disclosure of transverse pleating which indicates perhaps an even further development of that art over the teachings of Pervilhac and Agee is that of the patent to Angeletti, U. S. No. 2,141,235, wherein transverse pleats are first laid into the cloth or web, and subsequently bent into arcs so as to form a curvature in the pleats, or make curved pleats, the curving means comprising an intermittently operated curvilinear pressure block.

According to the present invention, however, the pleats are laid in lengthwise and run with the length of the cloth, not transversely thereof, and a prime advantage of this arrangement is speed of production, in that the fabrication of crosswise pleats seems almost always to be essentially an intermittent, or staggered operation, while wherev the pleats are formed longitudinally the mode of operation is essentially continuous, and, therefore, at least twice as fast as the intermittent type of manufacture. In manyof the transverse pleating machines, a reciprocating knife blade or other attenuated instrument is provided for laying in the cloth folds, one at a time, at or near a pair of pressure rolls which operate to complete the deformations of the cloth which are originated, one by one, by the pleating knife. While the knife is reciprocating to lay in the folds, the movement of the fold through the pressing rollers is interrupted and it comes to a halt. "A timing device to assure movement of the knife only when rotation of the rollers is stopped, and vice versa, is necessary to proper functioning of this type of transverse pleat formation machines. Apart from the limitations of time just referred to engendered by the structure of the cross-- wise pleat-ing machines, it must also be taken into account that no matter what the particular transverse pleat forming means may be, whether knife blade, differentially rotated rollers, or other construction, there is the additional limitation that the length of the pleat (not its width) can be no greater than the width of the cloth into which it is laid. In the case of the present invention, however, the only limitation on the length of the pleat is the length of the cloth and the continuous operation of the machine which forms its pleats.

It is also here proposed to make use of not only-one but various types of lengthwise pleat formations, any one of which may be incorporated in an assembly of apparatus adapted not merely to form the pleats lengthwise of the cloth, but also to pre-treat the cloth before it has been pleated or to subsequently treatthe cloth after it has been pleated so as to render the fold formations permanent, thereby withstanding repeated washings, even if the pleated cloth is made of material not normally expected to retain the pleat creases or deformations.

The invention proposes, further, a specific or special type of pleat former, which in effect straddles the cloth from both sides of the cloth and initiates the formation therein of a plurality of offset folds or pleats which are adapted to be made permanent, as so-called knife pleats, upon subsequent passage of the cloth with its offset folds through a pleat pressing device and/or further aftertreatment of the pleated material to render the pleats therein permanent.

There is further contemplated means for gradually narrowing the effective width of the cloth to be pleated, by moderately or extensively deforming it, before the cloth enters the pleating zone, so that by the time the web to be pleated is presented to the pleat forming or pleat originating device, it is not there suddenly compressed by the pleater into unworkable or unmanageable and/or ir regular bunchings. Thus, for example, the cloth to be pleated may be of a width of 36" off the loom as it approaches in spreadout condition the present apparatus assembly. To take the leading edge of the cloth in that width and immediately present it to the pleat former or originator Where its width must be restricted considerably, say, for example, to an over-all width of about 20" would subject the cloth to undesirable and irregular forces and tensions with the result that the cloth would tear and it would be, for all practical purposes, virtually impossible to form the desired multiplicity of symmetrically arranged pleats therein. Therefore, to make the transition from the much greater width which the cloth off the loom normally has, to the much more restricted and narrow width which the cloth should present at that portion of the apparatus where the several folds or pleats are originated, it is proposed to provide means, in advance of the pleating zone, for gradually diminishing the width of the cloth that is about to be pleated.

With the above and other objects in view, as will be apparent, the present invention consists in the construction, combination, and arrangement of parts and/ or steps, all as hereinafter more fully described, claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is aschematic or diagrammatic representation of a pleat forming and pleat fixing assembly and as such is embodiment of the present invention, indicating the course of travel at a substantially constant and uniform rate of speed, of the material to be pleated from its takeoff roll througha gathering means for narrowing the width of the cloth as it approaches the pleating zone and its subsequent passage through a pleat former, and between the nip of a pair ofpressure rolls, into a heater orcuring unit, from which it is finally Wound up at the same substantlially constant and uniform speed on a take-up roll for storage or other ultimate disposition;

Fig. 2 is a detail front view of an end portion of the adjustable gathering rolls which coact to form a nip and to permit passage of the cloth to be pleated therethrough, and gradually narrow the effective width of the material so that-after it has passed out of the gathering zone and into the zone of pleating its widthwise dimension will be such that the cloth may pass through the pleater readily without tearing or rupture or being subiected to other objectionable distortions;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of a typical forming die schernatically illustrating an olfset arrangement of the pleating prongs or fingers through which the cloth is threaded finger by finger, thereby at least initiating an overlapping relation of the several pleating folds with respect to the unpleat'ed portions of the fabric, it being understood, of course, that the invention contemplates pleat forming dies of other sizes, shapes and construction, so that pleats of different types, other than the so-called knife pleats, may be formed in the cloth of which, to name a few, the so-called box pleat, side pleat, and accordion type pleat may be mentioned;

Fig. 4 is intended to show the relative position of what may be termed a pair of pressing rollers for further securing the pleats, or at least decreasing the size of the acute angles which they form with respect to the unpleated portions of the cloth, the pressing rollers being established or situated immediately in back of the forming die, so that as soon as the pleats have been originated or begun in the pleater they are subjected to the action of pressure, with or without the simultaneous application of heat, as another's'tep in theprocess of forming and rendering permanent such pleats;

Fig. -5 represents a transverse "section taken widthwise of the pleated cloth, or at least through a portion of its width, "and sets forth the characteristic folded or parallel pleated formation which the web of cloth or other material will have attained after its passage through the forming die; and

Fig. 6 points out, as by a schematic transverse section through the pleated'web, the flattened down appearance, form and structure of the pleated cloth or other material just before it is rolled up on a take-up device, or after it has passed through the curing unit or other means for after-treating the cloth or web to enhance the permanence of its pleats.

Pleated fabrics produced according to one embodiment bfth'einvent'ion, as indicated above,'-may be unwound at a uniform rate of speed by any suitable means from a of supply and conveyed or otherwise moved at the "velocity inopen width form to a station intermediate ing gathering rolls or equivalent device to narrow the Width of the material may be interposed in the path of travel of the cloth to be pleated for the purpose of narrowing down and diminishing the effective width of the cloth as it is unwound from the supply source relative to the proper where the cloth which was previously preliminarily narrowed into gathers is further distorted and formed into pleating folds, the type of pleat being as desired, but preferably a knife pleat, and the pleats being laid in lengthwise or longitudinally of the length of the cloth, and in parallel alignment with each other.

Af emerging from the pleating. zone proper the narrowed and pleated material forthwith may be conducted Without interruption to the nip or bite of a pair of. pleat pressing rollers, either or both of which may be heated, to further deform and emphasize each of the several pleats therein, at least in greater degree than that obtaining after passage of the pleated Web through the pleat forming die.

Following the application of pressure, heated or in the cold, to the gathered and pleated material and its emergence from the pressure rolls, the material. or cloth, depending upon its nature and make-up, may be subjected to a further and subsequent treatment for the purpose of further securing relative permanence of the pleats and their ability to withstand repeated washings. If the material is made of cotton, or contains a substantial proportion of cotton fibers or the like, preferably it is pro-treated, before the pleating step, by being run through a padding bath or otherwise impregnated by immersion in an aqueous solution containing thermosetting resin or thermosetting resins, as, for example, synthetic resins of the urea-formaldehyde of melamine formaldehyde type, in the presence of a potentially active acid catalyst as taught by the patents to Widmer, No. 2,219,- 375, and to Battye, No. 2,088,227. As and for another example, if the pleated material should be made of nylon or contain a substantial portion thereof or other plastic, it may be rendered dimensionally stable, thereby preserving washfast its pleats, by any one or more of several different methods that may be utilized to permanently set the nylon; thus, after its passage through the pleat forming die and the presser :rolls, the cloth may be after-treated to render it and its pleats dimensionally stable by subjecting it to boiling water for from about half an hour to an hour, excessive temperatures and unduly prolonged treating times being avoided, of course. Alternatively, the nylon pleated web may be subjected to saturated steam under pressure of from about 15 to about lbs. for a lesser period of time thanis requiredfor the boiling Water process of setting, say for from about 1%. to about 3 minutes or more. Additionally, the after-treatment may consist merely of setting the nylon containing goods as by means of dry heat wherein the cloth in open width may travel overheated drying cans. Care must be taken in all these cases of setting that involve the application of heat to avoid subjecting the material to heat of such a degree as would cause fusion or melting of plastic or any substantial damage or injury or impairment to the goods. Additionally, instead of setting the pleated cloth by means of thermosetting resins, by boiling water or steam under pressure, or by dry heat, the setting step may be accomplished by padding the unpleated gr ds through an aqueous solution of glyoxal, with or without an acid or an alkali catalyst.

-As indicated in Fig. l, the after-treatment of the cloth may involve passage thereof through an electricaiiy heated or otherwise heated curing chamber, "with the cloth being arranged in hanging festoons and slowly ,pass ing through such a heating chamber.

In some cases if, for example, the rate of rotation of the presser rolls in back of the forming die is slowed up sufficiently, these pressing rollers, or one of them at least, is heated up more than would normally be required; and additionally, if enough of the heated surface or surfaces of one or more of the press'er rolls is in contact long enough with the pleated portions of the fabric as it runs through the presser rolls, then in such cases it may be possible altogether to omit the after-treatment, and rely solely upon the application of pressure and heat to the pleats which the cloth obtains during its passage through these pressure rolls for securing and maintaining the pleat formations in it. The resin or other type pro-treatment 1 is only advantageous if cotton is the material to be pleated, or other material of such a natureas to indicate the need of such additional means for rendering the pleat effects washfast.

Immediately after the pleated cloth or web comes out of the curing chamber, or, if the after-treatment step is omitted, immediately after emergence of the pleated cloth from the pressing rolls, it may be wound up, and, if desired, the wind-up means may include motive force for moving the material at constant speed all the way through the apparatus assembly starting with the unwinding of the cloth from the source of supply reel, and its subsequent passage successively through the fold or gathering means, the die former, the presser rolls, the after-treat ing means, the curing chamber, and to wind-up. If this arrangement is employed, it is, of course, desirable to put a brake on the let-off stand or source of supply so that the cloth will be held under tension as it moves from that point on through the various zones of the pleating assembly until it reaches the take-up winder.

It should be pointed out also that as shown diagrammatically in Fig. 1, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, after the pleats are laid in at the forming die, the cloth does not immediately contact the nip of the relatively large calender rollers, although it might be desirable if it did, the theory being that as soon as possible after the pleats are formed heat and pressure desirably are applied thereto. The reason why there is such a lag between the formation of the pleat and subjection of the cloth to the nip of the calendering device is because of the relatively excessive size of the diameters of these calendering rolls, or one of them. whereby necessarily there would be at least some interval between the formation of the pleat and the application of heat and pressure to it. To avoid this interruption. :a pair of auxiliary nip rolls may be provided of such diameter as not to interfere with the prompt application of pressure thereby to the pleated portions of the cloth immediately upon its emergence from the pleat forming die. Thus, in the nip of these auxiliary roll-s, the pleats which are obtained at the forming device, are substantially instantly emphasized or flattened down by the gripping pressure of the auxiliary rollers, and the cloth proceeds from that point to the second nip formed by the calendering device, through which it passes at a point beyond or in back of the first pair of rollers herein termed nip rolls or auxiliary rolls.

Thus, as set forth above, according to one embodiment of this invention, a web to be permanently pleated may be unwound in open width from a source of supply, its relative width being gradually narrowed, as by means of gathering rolls, before its passage into and through a forming die which lays lengthwise pleats into the gathered and narrowed cloth, the pleats preferably, but not necessarily, involving an overlap of the pleated portions which are superposed upon the remaining or unpleated portions of the web. After formation of the pleats in the forming device, the pleated web, in which the pleats run lengthwise of the cloth, may be subjected to the application of heat or pressure and/or thermosetting resins,- and/ or glyoxal, for permanently stabilizing the cloth and maintaining the pleats thereof. The resin and/or glyoxal may also be applied as pre-treatment steps, before the step'of pleating. Additively, the curing step may involve boiling water, saturated steam under pressure, dry heat, or other setting or stabilizing means. After the setting step, of whatever type employed, the material may be wound up and stored for ultimate disposition.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the present invention contemplates a source of supply for the material to be permanently pleated, which supply may comprise a let-01f stand or creel 10 having bearings 11 within which a central shaft 12 supporting a boltor roll of any suitable cloth 13 may be journaled as at 14. The let-off stand 10 is also preferably provided with a conventional braking device (not shown), so that as the cloth 13 is pulled off the let-off stand 10, it will be kept under constant tension suflicient to prevent it from running wild or loose. Means may be provided at the end of the pleat producing assembly (as will be explained hereinafter) for supplying the pulling force to the let-off stand 10 which is necessary to unwind the cloth 13 there from at substantially constant speed.

Having been unwound from the creel 10 as by means of a suitable torque winder (post), the cloth 13 in open width and unpleated but held under tension by a braking device on the let-off stand 1t) proceeds into what, for convenience, may be termed a cloth gathering or width narrowing zone, where its upper and under surfaces come in contact with at least one pair of superposed coacting and complementary rollers 15, 16 respectively journaled as at 17 and 18 for rotation in the same direction and at the same speed, and so actuated by any suitable driving means as, for example, the same source of power as that which unwinds the cloth from the let-off stand 10. If desired, however, the narrowing rolls 1'516 may be rotated in unison and to the same extent by some auxiliary or independent driving means, in timed relation to the force which moves the cloth through the remaining portions of the pleating assembly.

The gathering or narrowing rolls 15, 16 may further comprise, respectively V shaped portions 19 and corresponding grooved portions 20 whereby the effective Width of the cloth is narrowed and diminished as travelling from the open width off the let-off stand 10, it is partially compressed by reason of being forced to distribute its width up and down the projecting portions 19 and 20 of the gathering rolls 15 and 16, instead of running level and straight across the width of the rollers, which would happen if the surfaces thereof were entirely plane and not deformed into complementary Vs.

By way of further explanation of the construction and function of the narrowing rollers 15-16, reference is made to Fig. 7 of the patent to Elnod, U. S. No. 1,402,584, disclosing a cloth plaiting machine comprising creasing drums or rolls of the same or similar type as those which the present invention contemplates. Reference is also made to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings of the same Elro-d patent, No. 1,402,584, for a convenient disclosure of means for mounting the present applicants gathering rollers 1516 in the pleating assembly, and the same patent reference is relied upon herein as furnishing a'disclosure of apparatus and the components of a pleating assembly which are to some extent analogous to the applica'nts general assembly. It is to be pointed out, however,

that beyond this analogy with respect to the general assembly, there is no real similarity between the Elrod teachings and the applicants pleating device and pleating assembly and methods of permanently forming pleats in cloth, for basically the Elrod pleater is limited to the production of accordion type pleats as seen in the cloth 22 of Figs. 4 and 5 of that reference, with nooverlap of the pleated portions :over the unpleated portions. Furthermore, in Elrod the pleats are produced by defo'rmingthe cloth into adjoining or adjacent Vs which is followed by a horizontal, widthwise compression of the pleated fabric 22 by means of the up-ended pressure rolls 40, as noted in Figs. 1 and 2. Additively, there is no curing or heating, and no mention of setting, nor is any particular type of cloth, Web or fabric mentioned in Elrod, albeit the pleating is alleged to be permanent. These are vital omissions, of course, and persuasively point toward the need for permanent pleating which is really permanent, which gave rise to the instant invention.

Before running through the narrowing Zone l5 6, any creases found in the cloth 13 as it moves off the let-off stand may be eliminated effectively as by means of training the web 13 over a barrel expander 21, and thence under a guidebar 22, after which it enters the nip 23 of the gathering rollers 15-16. It may be added at this point that although there is a substantial space or gap between the gathering rolls l5 and 16 in Fig. 2, in practice the distance between these rollers is simply large enough to accommodate the thickness of the cloth which runs therebetween, and in Fig. 2 the height of the gap is increased and exaggerated merely for purposes of clarity.

After its passage through the gathering rolls assembly 15-16, the cloth 13, now narrowed down in width sufficiently to be accommodated in the pleat former, which has a restricted width relative to the width of the cloth before narrowing, enters the pleating zone proper. The pleat forming die 23 may comprise upper and lower coacting rigid cross members 24 and 25 in vertical alignment and spaced relationship. These bars 2425 which hold and support the pleating fingers 2627 respectively, may themselves be mounted in a pair of blocks (not shown) after the manner of the guide boards 2324 seen in Fig. 3 of the Elrod patent (supra), and the applicants whole pleating sub-assembly may be combined with and mounted in the present pleat forming and treating assembly after the manner shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the same patent.

As may be seen by particular reference to Fig. 3 of the drawings hereof, the pleating fingers 2627 alternately depend from or are attached to the cross members 24 and 25 respectively, and there are provided sufficiently large or wide gaps between the several pairs of coacting and complementary pleating fingers 26 and 27 to accommodate and contain the whole width of the cloth after it has been narrowed down. Thus, looking from left to right in Fig. 3 the forming die 23 may be loaded across its width or threaded with the cloth 13 by introducing a side edge of the cloth 13 into the gap defined by the first pair of fingers 26-47, and subsequently threading or working i the cloth thus introduced into the forming die 23 over each finger 27 fixed to the lower cross-pieces 25 and then down and under each finger 26 depending from the cross member 24 until the cloth 13 is threaded through all of the pleating fingers 26-27 all the way across the pleat former 23 from one side thereof to the other side.

As will be apparent, the effect of the offset portions 28 of the fingers 2627 after the cloth 13 is threaded thereover is to form at least initially a plurality or multiplicity of overlapping pleats, longitudinally of the length of the cloth 13, and over its entire width, and there is an overlapping relation between those portions of the material 13 which are trained over the projecting tops or pinnacles 29 of the lower set of fingers 27 and other portions of the cloth 13 which are trained under the depending lower ends 39 of the upper set of fingers 26. Thus a knife pleat, wherein this overlapping relationship is characteristic, is formed or at least originated.

After the pleats are formed or at least started in the fiorming die 23, the cloth, as soon as possible, is run into a pressing zone which may comprise the nip 31 of at least one pair of press rolls 32 and 33 of relatively small diameter. The function of this pressing sub-assembly is to apply opposing and compressive forces in a vertical direction (not horizontal) to the pleats or pleat formations in the web 13 immediately after the pleats have been formed by the die 23.

Of course, diiferent types of material will require different amounts of compression from the press rolls 3233, and for that purpose either or both of these nolls, but preferably the under roll 33, may be provided with adjustment means for varying the distance of the rolls from each other so as to increase or decrease, as may be needed, the gap between them. A pin and slot arrangement (not shown) may be installed to give this freedom of adjustment to the press nolls 32-33. A similar or other type of means for adjusting the distance between two coacting members may be employed to vary the gap or distance between the cross members 24 and 25 of the forming die 23, and also the distance vertically of the end points 2-3tl from the cross-pieces 24-25 respectively. Means may also be provided for adjusting the gap or relative distance in the horizontal direction or dimension between the complementary pleating fingers 26 and 27 so as to accommodate cloths or other weblike material being pleated of varying thicknesses.

As previously pointed out, in the case of some materials, depending upon the nature and construction thereof, the passage of the pleated material through the press rolls 3233 may give sufficient permanence to the pleats for all practical purposes, especially where the rollers 32-33 have been heated. The present invention contemplates, however, that in other cases, again depending upon the nature and construction of the cloth or other web being processed, an additional pressing or curing treatment will be advisable or necessary. To that end there is provided, for example, a calendering device which may comprise a pair of coacting rotatable rollers 3435 of relatively large diameter as compared with the smaller diameters of the press rolls 31 and 32. The two calender rollers may be heated, or either one may be heated, or both may be left cold. In addition, the nip or bite 36 defined by the contacting working surfaces of the rollers 34 and may be adjusted in height or depth by adjustment means similar to that contemplated for adjusting the spacing or gap between the press rolls 32 and 33. Moreover, in the event the pleated cloth 13 requires additional pressures and/ or heat treatment, another pair or more of calendering rollers may be set up in a tandem arrangement (not shown), or a single additional roller or more may be added in vertical alignment with the two calendering rollers 34-35 shown in Fig. l of the drawings hereof.

In practice it has been found that some plea-ted materials, for example, such as are made of or contain a substantial proportion of nylon or other heat-settable component, may desirably and effectively undergo a further heat treatment so as to render the nylon pleated cloth or other heat-settable material dimensionally stable and its pleats permanent. In cases of this type the cloth after emerging from the press rolls 3234 and its subsequent passage through the calender rolls 3435 may be run over an idler 37 and through an electrically or otherwise heated curing unit 38 where the nylon or other thermosetting material is subjected to additional heat treatment for as long as and at such temperatures as may be necessary to give a satisfactory permanence to the pleats. After this step of curing the pleated and cured web 13 may be run over another guide or idler roll 39 and proceed from thence to the torque winder 40 which rotates the central shaft 41 that carries and supports the take-up roll 42.

As pointed out earlier herein, the torque winder 40 may be utilized not only to wind up the pleated cloth 13 on the take-up roll 42, but also to unwind the cloth 13 from the let-off stand it) and to pull the material 13 at uniform speed all the way through the processing range comprising the gathering rolls 15-16, the pleating station or zone 23, the pressing and calendering steps, and the final curing step. Preferably, independent driving means (not shown) are employed for the purpose of rotating 9 the larger calender roll 35 which by frictional engagement rotates the coacting smaller roll 34.

It has also been pointed out above that in place and stead of the electric curing unit 38 other means for stabilizing the web and rendering permanent the pleating formations therein may be provided, as for example, a padder (not shown) for running the pleated or unpleated cloth through an aqueous bath containing any of the setting agents disclosed. Alternatively, the curing step may be omitted altogether, again depending upon the nature and construction of the cloth, if in practice it is found that the web is sufliciently stabilized and the pleat formations rendered permanent after passage of the web 13 through the calendering range 3435.

It will also be understood that although the specific form of the pleating device 23 with its feature of spaced offset finger portions 28 has been found effective for the formation of knife pleats, other forming dies with different type fingers 2627 may be provided, and thus modified, different types of pleats may be formed in the web.

To sum up then, the present invention provides means for feeding web-like goods in open width form to a pleating assembly, means for narrowing the width of the goods before they reach the pleating zone, means for originating lengthwise pleats in the pleating zone, and means for subsequently treating the pleated web to render the pleats permanent, with alternative means for pre-treating before the pleats are formed.

This application is a division of the applicants co-pend ing application Serial Number 425,556, filed April 26, 1954, and now abandoned.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination in a lengthwise pleat forming apparatus, of a source of supply for furnishing material to be pleated in open width form, means for withdrawing the material to be pleated from its source of supply, barrel expander means for removing wrinkles from the material as it is Withdrawn from the source of supply, gathering roller means for restricting the width of the material to be pleated after the wrinkles have been removed, lengthwise pleat forming means in back of the gathering roll means for establishing knife pleats in the material, means for conducting the material from the gathering roll means to the pleat forming means, auxiliary pressure roll means for applying compression in a vertical direction to the pleats of the material, heated calender means for applying additional compression in a vertical dimension to the plea-ted portions of the material, an electrically heated curing unit mounted in the path of the pleated material to help set the pleats therein, and torque winder means in back of the electrically heated curing unit for moving the pleated cloth through the pleat forming means, the auxiliary pressure rolls, calendering means, and the electrically heated curing unit.

2. Pleat former for fabrics in the piece comprising spaced top and bottom vertically aligned blocks, and a plurality of spaced pleating fingers projecting from each of the blocks in complemental horizontal relation, each pleating finger comprising a relatively short perpendicular portion fixed to a relatively long oblique portion and forming therewith an angle greater than a right angle,

the oblique portions of the spaced pleating fingers of the top block and the oblique portions of the spaced pleating fingers of the bottom block lying in the same horizontal plane and defining free widthwise and lengthwise passage ways for the fabric to be pleated.

3. The pleat former of claim 2 in combination with a pair of coacting primary press rolls of relatively small diameter to receive and vertically compress the pleated fabric immediately after the pleats have been formed therein, and a pair of coacting secondary press rolls of relatively large diameter mounted in back of the primary press rolls to apply additional compression to the pleated fabric after it leaves the primary press rolls.

4. The pleat former of claim 2 in combination with means for decreasing the width of the fabric to be pleated before it reaches the pleat former, said means comprising a pair of coacting gathering rolls, each gathering roll having a continuous series of uninterrupted uniform V- shaped surface deformations, the deformations of one of said gathereing rolls interfitting with the deformations of the other gathering roll to permit unrestricted passage of the fabric lengthwise while restricting the size of the fabric widthwise.

5. Offset pleat former comprising in combination a pair of vertically aligned and spaced supports defining a passage for longitudinal movement in a horizontal plane of a fabric to be pleated, a plurality of spaced fingers depending from and below one of the supports, each depending finger having an offset portion distant from its support, a plurality of fingers projecting from and above the lower support, each of said projecting fingers having an offset portion distant from the lower support, the ofiset portions of the dependent fingers and the offset portions of the projecting fingers lying in substantially the same horizontal plane, and being in substantially parallel alignment and spaced from each other a distance sufiicient to permit widthwise zig-zag movement of the fabric, thereby interrupting the horizontal movement of the fabric and establishing knife pleats therein.

6. Pleat former for fabrics in the piece comprising spaced top and bottom vertically aligned blocks, and a plurality of spaced pleating fingers projecting from each of the blocks in complemental horizontal relation, each pleating finger comprising a perpendicular portion fixed to an oblique portion and forming therewith an angle greater than a right angle, the oblique portions of the spaced pleating fingers of the top block and the oblique portions of the spaced pleating fingers of the bottom block lying in the same horizontal plane and defining free widthwise and lengthwise passage ways for the fabric to be pleated.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 70,706 Dunphy Nov. 12, 1867 654,884 Ferres July 31, 1900 1,402,584 Elrod Ian. 3, 1922 2,182,720 Cannard Dec. 5, 1939 2,494,431 Eckstein Ian. 10, 1950 2,689,070 Davis Sept. 14, 1954 

